Recently this poster was added at all the bus stops here in Zwickau from a Help Organization in Germany. It strikes me in many different ways each time I see it. ( which is every day). The first time the kids saw it Louisa asked very seriously if that was Fresda, our gardener's daughter. I smiled and said "I don't think so but it does look quite alot like her". Ben said " OH, that's in Malawi". I can't imagine too many if any other children from Zwickau would be affected by the poster that way. It seems "like home" to us. A place we know very well. Sometimes I see this poster and pray for that little girl altho' I have to say that having lived there and knowing the circumstances this particular girl looks very healthy and happy as do the other children who I know so well just love to goof off for anyone taking their photo! Sometimes I wish I could just hop into the poster and be THERE to soak up the warmth and to play with those children. At any rate I find it an intriguing contrast for our children all bundled in their winter gear to stand next to it - a type of place we used to live in. AND it does look alot like Malawi. One can see alot in a photo if you've been there before.
It also gets me thinking, as Stefan and I have been doing ALOT of lately, about where we call home. "Where are you from? " People often ask us. I prefer the german version which literally asks " From where do you ORIGINATE?" That's much easier.
I suppose one can always return to their land of origin and settle down or at least blend in. We, the Felgenhauer family, find ourselves at a crossroads . A time of decision making. Where to go? What to do next? Settle down? Move again? What type of education should our children have? Should that be a factor? Who are we and what should we do with our lives? Seems silly, I suppose. For the first time in my life I feel somewhat envious of those people who have had the stability of one location for a lengthy amount of time. I remember asking my nephew who is just in first grade about what sort of new friends he had met at school. He or maybe it was his Mom told me that it's mostly the same friends he had in pre-school AND Kindergarten so they all know each other. Ahhhhhhhhhhh what a concept! Our daughter, who is 7, attended Reception ( British system) at age 5 in Malawi, then she had just 4 months of 1st grade in Canada ( due to immigration paperwork she couldn't start right away and then we left before the school year was out!) , summer school for 6 weeks in WI, USA, and now at age 7 attends 1st grade ( Erste Klasse) here in Germany. It seems almost ridiculous ! But I feel she's turned a curve now since Christmas and is catching on QUITE well to both reading in English and German. She once asked me " What's vacation?" and I said " Do you know what it means "to go" on a Holiday?" and she said " Yes, you go somewhere else like the beach or to someone else's house" and I said " THAT IS VACATION" :) When asking the kids where they would like to live Ben thought for awhile and said " Can we just move back to the FURLOUGH HOUSE?"
For Stefan it's NICE to be in Germany. Language ease and all that.........but he left some years ago so it's not like it used to be. People here always think he has an american accent altho' in America some say they have to concentrate to understand him?! I have not lived in the USA for 13 years and I love my country of origin. It's NICE to go there. But what would it/will it be like to LIVE there? With my family? Our kids have never attended a basketball game or any other american sport in their lives. I suppose they'll catch on......... They know now that SMARTIES are just like M&M's. ( Whew! ) People always think of our KIDS when it comes to our future. I really feel the kids are the ones that adapt easier than we adults. So long as they have the stability of their loving family they seem to be able to adapt. Ben adapts quicker and easier than his sisters but everyone's got their own personality. Stefan and I are the ones who left our original countries and gained new experiences. We are the ones who created a family with two cultures and then began raising them in a third. So now what?
Well here's the thing..........as Christians it isn't as difficult and confusing as I'm making it sound. It has become very clear to me that where we ARE right now is our temporary "home". We're all on a journey in this world.........and the Felgs have a Heavenly Home in sight to spend eternity with all those amazing christians we've met on this earth! Where we go and what we do along the way is a BLESSING from God and one we've learned to not take very lightly. We remain a bit confused as to our next step but through prayer we know the Lord will guide us and CONTINUE to take good care of us. With God anything is possible and for that we feel content. ( See the prophecy which Louisa recited on Christmas Eve from Numbers 24:17 " A star will come out of Jacob; a scepter will rise out of Israel"
1 comment:
Kathy -- from the day we met at Michaelis, I thought what a blessing to be able to see and experience so much of the world. Because of what your family has been "in for" you have touched the lives of so many people. Your children have learned more than any school could EVER teach them (especially here in the US!) The blessing of such a tight knit, clever family is no doubt a help. You could not do it with out all the cooperation of your husband. So many families take all these things for granted, or dont have the lack of selfishness to be this way...you have sooooo much to be thankful for -- and you dont NEED to be told that, I can hear it in your posts, but I think it is a blessing for myself to know you and "virtually experience" these things through "the Felgs"
May God continue to bless you on your journey!
-roni
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